


The day it all changed

by damagederudite



Category: Divergent - All Media Types
Genre: Canon Backstory, Gen, serums
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-16
Updated: 2020-08-16
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:08:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25933426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/damagederudite/pseuds/damagederudite
Summary: A rewrite (sort of) of what happened between Andrew and Jeanine when he saw her testing on the factionless man, all told out of Tris' perspective.
Relationships: Four | Tobias Eaton/Tris Prior, Jeanine Matthews & Andrew Prior
Comments: 3
Kudos: 5





	The day it all changed

“I’m interested.” I say, dismissing all of Tobias’ concerns about me watching my father’s childhood. 

Tobias sighs. “Whatever Tris.” He stands and walks out of the room, leaving me alone with the footage on the small tablet I was given. It’s probably not legal but Zoe gave it to me anyway, she felt bad for me. Felt bad for me losing both of my parents in such a short amount of time. 

I take a deep breath before opening it and clicking on the file titled ‘Andrew Prior’. The first video I see is one to do with him and Jeanine. My father looks no older than sixteen on the thumbnail. I click on it, curious. 

Jeanine is standing with a factionless man on the outskirts of Erudite headquarters. Her hair is cropped just above her shoulders, a little like when I first met her. The only differences are that it’s curly and the silver hair clip that pins a bit back. It’s a common hairstyle for young Erudite women. She’s dressed in a white blouse with wide-legged navy blue trousers. A fabric belt of the same fabric is tied around them and is just barely noticeable. Her grey eyes, that looked younger and more alive back then, are assisted by a pair of silver, circular glasses. She looks nerdy yet somehow fashionable. She has pink lipstick on, a small amount of blush and it looks like she may have blue eyeshadow on but I can’t be sure. 

There is a middle-aged man next to her. He has greying hair and thick, black glasses. He is dressed in a crisp blue suit and his posture is threatening. Despite being next to her, it almost seems as though he is looming over her. His facial expression is stern and makes the wrinkles around his eyes and on his forehead more visible. I almost shiver just by looking at him. 

“Norton.” I hear Jeanine say. “I don’t know about this… I am still working on it really. I mean I can’t be sure that it is stable.” I see that her hands are slightly shaking when I zoom in. 

The factionless man’s eyes widen as he looks from the teenage girl to who I now know as Norton. Norton was the Erudite representative and leader before Jeanine. I have heard nothing but bad news about him. Where Jeanine at least did some good, he caused nothing but fear. 

“Don’t be ridiculous Jeanine.” Norton snaps. “You will do this now. Don’t disappoint me girl.” I hate Jeanine but even I feel slightly sympathetic towards her. She seems nervous and almost as though she doesn’t want to hurt anyone, that’s odd considering how she treated me. Maybe this was the beginning, maybe she was good before now. There is still no sign of my father but I expect that he will turn up soon. I wonder how that will go down. How he will react if he sees this. 

Jeanine nods and goes to speak but is cut off by the factionless. He grabs her arm and forces her to look at him with petrified eyes. It’s weird how easy I can tell her emotions, she was always so cold and unreadable. “Excuse me Miss, what does this serum do?” 

Jeanine freezes for a moment. What does this serum do? Perhaps it’s just because she believes it to be unstable but it can’t be good. She opens and closes her mouth again before whispering, “I’m so sorry.” She injects the liquid into his neck and his eyes open in fear. 

He falls to the ground, he was already on his knees, and Jeanine crouches down beside him. He begins to scream and squirm. I see a tear roll down Jeanine’s cheek but she quickly wipes it away before Norton can see. 

She places her hand on his head and strokes his hair. “It’s called the terror serum.” Her voice is quiet and shaky. 

“You were right,” Norton states simply. “It is unstable.” He watches the man with little interest and I feel truly sickened by his behaviour. How could he act so indifferent? “Stand up Miss Matthews,” He tightens his tie. “There is no need to act this way. He is but a factionless Jeanine, you must remember that.” 

Jeanine looks up at him and stands slowly, I see her legs shake slightly. The man lets out a scream of terror which is ironic considering the name of the serum. Jeanine flinches slightly and backs away so she, again, stood next to Norton. 

I hear a gasp and the camera cuts to my father. A teenage version of my father is stood in shock. His books are scattered on the floor and his mouth is agape. His brown hair is fluffier and he wears rectangular black glasses. He has a look of pure disgust on his face. He is dressed in a blue suit that is not quite as professional as Norton’s. 

“J-Jeanine?” he stutters. “What is this?” 

“Andrew I…” Jeanine trails off. I suppose she doesn’t know what to say. Who would? My father is disgusted by her and, by all accounts, they were like brother and sister. “I didn’t mean to… I’m sorry?”

He shakes his head viciously and runs away, his books remain on the floor. Norton rolls his eyes and grabs Jeanine’s shoulder as she attempts to go after him. “Stay here.” he commands. 

Jeanine shakes her head and pushes him off of her. She takes off after my father, leaving the squirming man on the floor. His face is still contorted into a look of pure terror and then the video cuts off. 

I sit in shock, having no idea what to say or do. It seems that Jeanine wasn’t always so heartless. It also seems that my father has good reason to hate Erudite. I don’t know what happens next, whether he has a good reason to hate Jeanine. I don’t know if she told him that she was basically forced into it. I just know that their past is a lot more complicated than I would have cared to admit.


End file.
